 | Otia Sacra Optima Fides |  |
How to ride out a Storm.
He onely happy is, and wise,Can Cun his Barque when Tempests rise,
Know how to lay the Helm and steer,
Lie on a Tack Port and Laveer,
Sometimes to weather, then to Lee,
As waves give way, and winds agree;
Nor Boom at all in such a stress,
But by degrees Loom Les and Les;
Ride out a Storm with no more loss
Than the endurance of a Toss:
For though he cannot well bear saile
In such a fresh and powerfull Gale,
162
Thinks't not amiss to ride a drift;
To shut down Ports, and Tyers to Hale in,
To Seal the hatch up with Tarpalin;
To Ply the Pump, and no means slack,
May clear Her Bilge, and keep from wrack;
To take in Cloth, and in a word,
Unlade, and cut the Mast by bord:
So Spoon before the Wind and Seas,
Where though she'll Roule, she'll goe at ease;
And not so strain'd, as if laid under
The wave that Threatens sudden founder;
And whilst the fury and the rage,
Leaves little hopes for Anchorage;
Yet if She can but make a Coast
In any time, She'll not be lost,
But in affections Bay will finde
A Harbour suited to her minde:
Where Casting out at first the Kedg,
Which gives Her ground, and priviledg
Of stop, she secondly lets fall
That Anchor from the Stream men call;
The Others all a Cock-bell set,
One after other down are let
Into the Sea; till at the last
She's come to Moorage, and there fast,
In hopes to be new Shethd's inclin'd
To lie aside untill Carin'd;
That when She shall be paid again,
So Grav'd, She may endure the Main.
Thus when his Vessell hath out-gon
This and that rugged motion,
163
Where Charles is not in wain but sphere;
Then He'll another Voyage try,
Laden with Faith and Loyalty,
Which He no sooner parts with, than
Dry ground becomes an Ocean.
| Otia Sacra Optima Fides | |